Microelectronic elements such as semiconductor chips commonly are provided with elements which protect the microelectronic element and facilitate its connection to other elements of a larger circuit. For example, a semiconductor chip typically is provided as a small, flat element having oppositely facing front and rear surfaces and contacts at the front surface. The contacts are electrically connected to the numerous electronic circuit elements formed integrally within the chip.
Advances in semiconductor chip design and manufacture have led to semiconductor chips having higher densities and larger numbers of contacts. Such contacts on the chip may be joined by electrically conductive masses to conductive elements on a facing surface of another element, which may be another semiconductor chip, substrate, microelectronic package or microelectronic assembly including a semiconductor chip. As a result, a large number and high density of contacts of a chip, and a large number of conductive masses joined to such contacts and a corresponding large number of conductive elements of another element may be disposed in a relatively small region, such that a large amount of heat may be generated during operation of a device including the chip and the other element, which may be within a microelectronic package. Such heat typically needs to be dissipated to avoid damage to the chip and other elements in device. A circuit board, to which a semiconductor chip or the microelectronic package is typically joined, usually serves as a heat sink that dissipates heat generated during operation of a device. However, with the microelectronic packages used in electronic devices becoming smaller and smaller, the number of thermal paths existing in the microelectronic packages over which the heat generated may be transferred for dissipation, such as through heat sinks at the circuit board, is decreasing.
In certain microelectronic packages, a semiconductor chip is mounted in a so-called flip-chip orientation, so the contacts on a front surface may be joined by electrically conductive masses with conductive elements on a facing surface of another element. With increases in the density of the contacts on such chips, the contacts of the chip have smaller and smaller pitches. The smaller pitches may, in turn, result in increased electrical interference between electrical paths extending from the chip to another element adjacent to and electrically connected with the chip, which may impact operation of an electronic device including such chip.
Despite the considerable effort devoted in the art to the development of microelectronic packages with one or more semiconductor chip, further improvement would be desirable.